Almost everybody involved in agricultural development and food security knows of Norman Borlaug, father of the green revolution and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1970. Yet few realize the critical role of the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region in shaping his vision. In 1960, at the age of 46, he made his first ever trip outside of the Americas when he travelled for two months through ten countries of MENA. The rediscovery of his trip report in 2016 throws new light on his insightful observations and thought processes that quickly established the first truly international crop research program and led to the green revolution. The basic lessons of that experience especially his passion for training a new generation of researchers are just as relevant today.
By the late 1950s, there were two major but largely independent wheat research networks focusing on the developing world.
The Rockefeller Foundation’s Inter-America wheat improvement program: In 1943 the Rockefeller Foundation initiated support to food crop research in Mexico. From 1944, Borlaug joined this program and from 1945 he led the wheat program. The story of Norman Borlaug’s life (1914-2009) as an Iowa farm boy who obtained his PhD in plant pathology at the University of Minnesota in 1942 has been told many times. Under Borlaug’s leadership, the Mexican wheat program introduced several important innovations, notably accelerated breeding through two seasons per year, large volume crossing, and integration of critical disciplines into a single program. By 1959, the program was highly successful in doubling wheat yields in Mexico, and the Foundation turned the program over to Mexican leadership. Meanwhile the Foundation had initiated research programs in several other countries of Latin America and these were logically linked together by the Foundation into the Inter-American Wheat Improvement Project in 1960, again led by Borlaug.
FAO’s Near East Wheat and Barley Improvement Program: In 1952, a young FAO initiated a major technical assistance project to support wheat and barley research in the Near East (as it was then known). This program under the leadership from 1955 of James B. Harrington a highly-experienced plant breeder from Canada was a pioneering effort in regional collaboration. By 1960, the project included 11 countries and was one of FAO’s flagship programs; the participating countries included Afghanistan, Cyprus, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Pakistan, Turkey, Egypt, and Syria. After eight years, FAO decided it was time to seek outside input to review progress and design the next phase. Accordingly, they turned to two experienced wheat scientists from the Americas, Borlaug and Jose Vallegas of the Instituto Fitotecnia in Argentina.
The trip
The trio of Borlaug, Vallegas and Harrington travelled from March 6th to April 29th, 1960, to ten of the collaborating countries. Uncharacteristically for a man of the field who abhorred office work, Borlaug penned a 200-page report on the visit. Not surprisingly, as his first trip to the old world where wheat was the dominant crop and food staple, he was very much in a learning mode and this is reflected in his detailed and often incisive commentary. His interests were broad ranging and while emphasizing breeding methods and diseases, they frequently dealt in depth with fertilization, irrigation, seed production and many other topics. Nonetheless, three major themes stand out as he moves from country to country.
First, he expresses the need for wheat research to become more efficient and results oriented, especially through a strong orientation to field work. He saw many opportunities to upgrade breeding methods and accelerated progress based on the proven innovations in the Mexican program. This he felt could be achieved through practical training of young scientists who lacked experience and a vision of the possible.
Second, he was able to observe his Mexican-bred germplasm at many sites since from the late 1950s they had been distributed through the USDA Spring Wheat Rust Nursery and the FAO Near East wheat nurseries. He was clearly surprised and delighted at how well his varieties developed half a world away, were performing in many sites he visited.
Finally, he noted the extensive efforts in many countries to promote chemical fertilizers to raise yields from their very low levels, usually less than 1 t/ha. However, the varieties available in the region were tall and had weak straw that limited response to nitrogen. Fortuitously, he had in his back pocket, semi-dwarf lines that were in an advanced stage of testing in Mexico that would greatly increase the amount and efficiency of nitrogen applied.
Next steps – The International Wheat Improvement Project
Back in Rome, the team laid out an ambitious plan to strengthen the FAO network and develop a strategic partnership with Rockefeller’s Inter-American program based in Mexico. For the Near East network, they proposed a training program in Mexico of eight months for about 10 young scientists per year to be funded by the Rockefeller Program. This was to be coupled with the initiation of a Near East Americas Spring Wheat Yield Nursery to be prepared by the trainees and distributed widely in the MENA region. For the Inter-American network, these links added value to the already large Mexican hub by providing access to a much more extensive testing system as well as an opportunity to broaden its germplasm base through access to the land races and wild relatives in MENA, the center of domestication of wheat.
All parties—the Foundation, FAO, the MENA countries, and the Government of Mexico –quickly agreed on this plan and it was implemented in the 1960/61 wheat season. The Near East Americas nursery was soon merged with the Inter-American nursery, into the International Spring Wheat Yield Nursery that also included collaborators in India, Europe, Australia and Subsaharan Africa. Thus, was born the first truly international research program covering all spring wheat producing regions of the world, and involving a systematic exchange and testing of germplasm and information, and networking among participants.
Enduring lessons
The basic principles that established the value of international research collaboration in the early 1960s endure until today. The benefits of a strong hub for strategic long-term research to produce international public goods remains critical, but over the years has been undermined as donors switched to short-term project funding. Likewise, the need for continually preparing the next generation of scientists is perhaps even more important. Although we live in a world of genomics and molecular breeding methods, the value of practical hands on field work in breeding programs and a strong orientation to results is just as valid. Again, in the current funding environment, this type of training is seriously underfunded although new initiatives such as the Borlaug Training Foundation are an important step to revival of this essential activity.
